Bence Völgyi  - Katalin Füzér - Frizsina Albert - Dávid Erát (2024). The role of digital status in adult child–parent relationships in European comparative perspective. Families, Relationships and Societies (published online ahead of print 2024).  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1332/20467435Y2024D000000026 (Q2, IF:1,4)

Abstract

The increasing significance of technology-mediated social interactions gives rise to optimistic expectations that digitalisation leads to a variety of overwhelmingly positive outcomes in all walks of life. Our study relies on European Social Survey 10th wave data (2020-2022) to investigate the role of digital status in the relationship of adult children and parents in 30 countries.  We found media multiplexity in adult child-parent relationships to be coupled in interesting and partly counterintuitive ways with our novel measure of digital status that captures digital skills and the outcomes of ICT use. The country-specific binary logistic regression models revealed that digital skills and emotional benefits of ICT use have a central role in the use of new and old technologies, whereas a positive practical outcome of ICT use decreased the frequency of adult child-parent contact. By shaping the opportunities of doing family digitally, the skills and outcomes aspects of digital status have independent roles in a key segment of intergenerational relationships of adult family members.